Forgotten
by CaliBabe
Summary: Happily Ever After. It didn't begin happily. They didn't have the happy little family. They never wished for happy. There lives were never meant to be happy, and they certainly wouldn't get the happily ever after they all dreamed up.
1. Making Her Bed

Prologue

She lay there in the bed wide-awake. She wasn't sure what she was doing, or why she was doing it. All she knew as she lifted her head off the man's chest to look at his face was that she needed this, and every night previous. She needed the break, the interruption, the release and she had found it, in him, over and over again for the last few weeks.

She didn't really care that he was seeing someone else. Sure she should, and maybe she did in some weird way. She should have told him to take a hike, to get lost, but for some reason she couldn't. She needed him too much, wanted him too much. The way he made her feel when they were in bed, and out, like she was all that mattered, like the world revolved around her.

The blonde hair, blue-eyed angel gently lifted the mans wrist between her thumb and pointer finger just enough so she could easily get up with out waking him. She inched her body to the edge of the bed before releasing his wrist and letting it fall onto the bed. She watched him roll over into the warmth of the sheets before she sat up.

She instantly missed the warmth he had brought to her body. She so enjoyed the feel of his breath on the top of her head, his hand resting against her soft skin, his lips brushing against hers. She ran her hands through her hair as she briefly shut her eyes before looked down at him. Eyes shut deep shallow breath, almost like he wasn't real. He was an angel when he slept. An Angel that wasn't hers, that would probably never be hers. So why did she keep coming back?

She gently lifted the sheets off of herself as she slid her legs off the bed and onto the floor. She let her bare feet hitting the cold ground as she set her hands on the bed and pushed her naked body gently off the bed so she was standing next to it. Slowly she tiptoed through the room picking up her clothing that were strewn everywhere. Her blouse on the armchair, bra over the lamp, jeans by the bathroom door, one of her three inch heel black leather boots was next to the bed along with her panties while the other rest on the nightstand like it was the natural place for the article of clothing to be.

She quickly dressed herself in the bathroom in hopes of not waking the sleeping man in the next room. Once changed she quietly approached the door and eased it open. Not making a sound she exited the room and turned around to shut the door behind her as she grabbed her leather jacket off the other armchair by the door. Once it was closed she made her way down the musty hall and to the stairs. Turning once before walking down the stairs she starred at the door she had just exited. This wasn't her was the only thing running through her mind as she entered the dark bar.

There was still a man sitting at the bar, and two at a table in the middle of the room. No one was using the pool tables as everyone left in the bar was too drunk to focus on anything, and that included the bartender, Coleman. She wasn't surprised everyone was wasted as she walking out of the bar hearing the drunken hoots and whistles of the patrons, she was use to it. The slurred comments were nothing she hadn't heard before, mostly the men calling her hot and wanting to take her to bed. She ignored them as she waved to Coleman before opening the door and walking out.

The cool fall breeze hit her face as she slipped her jacket on and walked off towards the docks. She never saw herself in this position ever. In all her years she never thought she would be the other woman. She didn't care if he was only dating someone else. She was still sleeping with a man who shared his home with another woman, that wasn't her.

Taking a seat on a bench she rested her elbows on her knees as her chin rested in her hands so her body was tilted forward some. The water lightly washed against the supports of the docks lulling her to a state of relaxation she rarely found unless dancing in the rain. She looked at the water willing it to wash up onto the docks and carry her away. To take away the pain and anguish she felt. She wanted the water to carry her away and bury her in the ocean floor where she could possible find some peace. She had never been so confused in her life. She just sat there wishing for the pain to end as a single tear slid down her face.


	2. Innocence of a Child

_**A/N: **So heads up on this chap. It's written a little differently than all my other fics, infact the rest of this story is written differently. In two parts to be exact, sort of a present/future, or a past/present, however you choose to look at it that's what it is. The prolouge however, doesn't really have a home yet, you need to figure out where and when that fits in. Eventually it will all make sense. Thanks for all your patience, and the wonderful reviews…Happy reading!_

_-.-_

_**Chapter 1**_

_**He wasn't sure what he was thinking as he took a sip of the clear liquid. He was at a complete loss as he sat in the room thinking of his daughter. Things weren't supposed to happen like this. It wasn't supposed to be her that was hurt. She was supposed to be all right, and the fact that she was pregnant only made him hurt more.**_

_**He had wanted the man dead, not his own daughter. He didn't want to be welcoming a parentless child into the world, yet he would be in a matter of hours. It wasn't his plan. She had begged him. Begged him not to take her baby from her, from the world, when losing the child would be the only thing that would save her, she wasn't strong enough to support them both. **_

_**She was the only one who ever softened his heart after he had lost so much. The only person with a clear shot at calling him off of what ever rampage he was on, and he couldn't resist her. She was his life since the minute she was born, and he was so afraid that history would repeat itself. That this child would be born, and he would lose his daughter the same way he lost his wife. He wasn't sure he could raise another child, loving it, caring for it and yet still be able to live with the fact he could lose this baby to his lifestyle like he had lost so many others before.**_

_**He lost his sister. His sister was the first to leave his, and his fathers life of violence and the mob. His wife was second. She should have lived longer than him, but complications during the birth of their daughter made that impossible, if only she hadn't been shot. Now his daughter lie in that bed unable to move unable to talk to him, all she was able to do was beg that her child live. He couldn't stand knowing that in order for his grandchild to live he would most likely have to sacrifice his daughter. **_

_**He sat in the waiting room as he continued to drink the clear liquid that burned his throat as it went down. The doctors had asked him not to drink, but he had to, he couldn't do this sober. He had made the world think he was dead, like they already thought she was, and he had no one, no one that would listen, no one that cared. **_

_**-**_

_**The only sounds that could be heard throughout the bright room were the cries of a baby and the beep of the heart monitor as the doctors tied to start the woman's heart again. It was no use though. She had died giving birth to the child that would someday make his fathers life a living hell. She had given birth to the greatest joy in her life and the greatest horror of the father her child wouldn't know for years.**_

-.-

It was early morning, a little before six, and the sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon. Courtney sat on the back porch of the house in Italy as she sipped her coffee. She loved to wake up and watch the sun rise; it was something she always did in Port Charles.

She watched as the colors of the morning sky swirled together forming a beautiful pattern of reds, oranges, and yellows. She couldn't stop thinking of her life, of everything that happened. She had been through so much with Jason. She couldn't get him out of her head. She sat there thinking of all the things that they had shared together and all the things that they lost. They had loved each other so much. She had loved him anyway. She still did, but she knew he had moved on. He was with her now and it broke her heart.

She sat on the porch as the tears began to fall. Why had she left? Why had she let that brunette take her life? She wasn't sure she could handle it, not today. She hated days like this. The days where her past met her future, the days where she couldn't just put everything behind her and forget. She hated that day, once a year that she had to remember the day her baby was…

-

She looked around the room. She was sure that they had fallen asleep together in that bed, but waking up she didn't see anyone. She slowly sat up as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She hated waking up alone, not that she wasn't used to it by now. She had spent so many nights alone that on those rare occasions that she needed comfort she always had some one. She put her feet in her slippers and grabbed her robe as she made her way down the stairs.

She searched all of the rooms before she looked out on the porch. The sun was rising and the person she was searching for was resting on the porch. Carly stepped out on the deck and walked up behind the person. They were both going through a rough time and they needed comfort. They had both lost children on this day.

-

He looked off the balcony and over the city. It wasn't much of a city but all he could think of was her, and how she died. Did he cause it? Was it his fault? He watched from his balcony in Harbor View Towers as the sun rose into the sky. He remembered how she loved to wake up early every morning and watch the sun rise. It was like her internal clock couldn't get out of the habit. She got up that early with the baby, then the baby was gone and she still couldn't seem to sleep in. She would get up before him on most days just to watch the sun rise.

He remembered waking up every morning expecting to wrap his arms around her and just hold her only to find she wasn't next to him. He would have to walk down the stairs and on to the balcony just to see her, to wrap his arms around her and feel whole. That was another time, another life, and a life before she was no more. He couldn't help but think of her today, today was the day he thought she had come back only to find that she was truly gone. He couldn't deal with it; he had needed her for so long. He had needed her.

He stood watching the sunrise as a pair or stringy limp arms wrapped around his stomach. He let out a sigh knowing it wasn't the same, it wasn't her. He also knew that it helped him forget. That when he was with her he didn't have to remember all the good times he had with her.

-

The man lie in bed looking up at the ceiling he was completely lost in his thoughts. He had a wonderful woman wrapped in his arms and all he could think of was the day his ex-wife disappeared. He had searched everywhere for her, but he never found her. It was like she had dropped off the face of the earth. He missed her so much sometimes, and he knew that his boys had missed her, especially Morgan who never got the chance to really know the amazing woman that was his mother.

Sonny shifted in bed as his current wife rolled in his arms. Times were different. She had left him; she had disappeared leaving him alone. He would have waited, he was positive had they still been married that he would have waited, but they weren't. So he had moved on.

-.-


	3. Bonds of Love

_**A/N:** Well all I can really say right now is if you think you're confused now, wait a few more chapters. I don't really clear much of anything up for a few chaps. Thanks for the reviews, and I hope you enjoy!_

-.-

Chapter 2

**_She sat on the couch waiting for him. She knew it was just this afternoon that she had seen him as she waited tables at Kelly's, but she missed him. She wanted to see him, to feel his lips against hers, his hands running up and down her back. She wanted to fell his sculpted body against hers, even if he did have his shirt on. She just wanted him there. She loved how lost she got in him, like they were the only two people in the world._**

_**Courtney stared off into space thinking about the first time they actually felt how much they truly cared for each other. She had just gotten out of a bad relationship. She had been so close to marrying the man that it didn't seem real. She had thought she loved him, thought that he would be the one to give her everything she needed. She was wrong. She never loved him, and he couldn't give her what she needed**_

_**She loved his brother. She knew then that he was the man she was meant to be with. AJ had just been a distraction until she found her way home, home to him. Sure Jason had been there through AJ stalking her in hopes of being her hero before her wedding, but Jason had done so much more for her than save her. Jason had reminded her that she was a strong woman on her own. That she could do anything that she wanted, that she was strong, independent, caring, and could do anything she put her mind to. **_

_**Jason walked in the door and looked at the woman sitting on the couch. He had never thought he would get to this point in his life. The point where he actually wanted work to end so he could come back and see her. Home. The loft had become that for him, and her. It was their own little sanctuary, the one place that they could forget about everything, and they had a lot to forget. **_

_**They had so much on their plate at the moment; Jason had no idea how the two of them even found time to spend with each other. He was dealing with the Alcazar murder trial, and the fact that he and Brenda were married. He had done it to keep them both out of prison, and to keep Brenda away from Sonny's marriage. He just wanted them to be happy.**_

_**In Courtney's case she was trying to get over the fact that AJ had stalked her. They were only engaged, but he had done so much damage to her it still shocked Jason that she got up every morning with him before they both left for work. Not only that, but she had to deal with the fact that her current boyfriend was married to a woman to save his best friends marriage. He wasn't sure how she did it.**_

_**Jason walked into the room further as he set his coat over a chair and just looked at her, she was still staring at nothing. He turned his head to look in the direction she was and he saw nothing. He slowly lowered himself onto the couch looking at her as he went. His bottom slide into the soft material of the couch causing it to dip and form around him as he pressing he leaned back against the arm of the couch and kicked one leg up onto the couch as his knee bent. **_

_**He watched as the blonde turned her head to look at him. She was beautiful. Her freshly washed face, clean of all make-up, and her in one of his t-shirts. She was gorgeous, and he watched as she turned her back on him and leaned towards him. He reached out for her and pulled him flush against his chest. He felt her relax against him as she nestled into his body. He too began to relax as she took one of his hands that rested on her abdomen and began to massage it. **_

"_**So how was your day," Courtney asked with a smile as she tilted her head to the side to look at him.**_

"_**Better now," he said as he looked down into her crystal clear baby blues. **_

"_**So what did you do all day," She spoke in that angelic voice that was her own, "I didn't get to talk to you this morning in Kelly's. With Brenda around it was rather hard."**_

"_**Lets not talk about Brenda," Jason said as he looked away from her. This really wasn't a conversation that he wanted to talk about. He just wanted to sit there with her in his arms and forget about the world, but he wasn't sure that was going to happen.**_

"_**Why not? What happened today? Was it something about the trial," Courtney asked her voice filled with worry, "Please tell me Jase."**_

_**He could her the weakness in her voice. He could here her need to help him, to fix all his problems. He wouldn't let her do that. It was him who was supposed to keep her safe, not the other way around. He also knew that if he didn't tell her they wouldn't be able to end this conversation, so he gave in.**_

"_**They moved the trial up. It's in ten days."**_

"_**What? Is that enough time for the lawyers to come up with a defense," Courtney questioned as she began to panic.**_

"_**Courtney you don't need to worry. Everything will be fine. Sonny and Carly are fine, and we're together," Jason said as he ran his fingers through her soft silky hair.**_

"_**But for how long? What happens if you can't beat it, if you and Brenda go to prison? If I never see you again," Courtney said as she sat up and turned to face him, "What happens if you have to run off with Brenda to avoid jail. Will I ever see you again?"**_

"_**Hey. Hey," Jason said softly as he brought his hand up to the soft skin of her cheek. Courtney leaned into his touch, as she looked him in the eyes, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay right here, with you."**_

"_**I want to be there," Courtney firmly replied.**_

"_**No," Jason responded a little agitate, "Courtney, We've been over this. I don't think it best that you be there."**_

"_**Why not," Courtney said jumping up from the couch. She wanted to be there to support him. To let him know that she believed that she knew he didn't do it. She wanted to be his rock like he had been for her so many times before. **_

"_**Because you don't need to hear any of it. You don't need to be there," Jason said as he went to stand by her.**_

"_**But I want to be there. I want to be there to support you, to see you. I'm still afraid that I'll wake up one morning and you won't be there," Courtney said as she looked to the ground.**_

"_**Courtney look at me," Jason spoke softly as he pulled the blonde into his arms. Courtney tilted her head up and looked into his eyes, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay right here with you."**_

"_**You can't promise me that," Courtney said as her eyes began to fill with tears.**_

"_**Yes I can. Courtney it will happen. We'll be together forever. I love you," Jason spoke as he crashed his lips against hers. She allowed his tongue to gently massage hers as she leaned into his body. **_

_**The finally pulled apart as Jason held her waist close to him. Courtney ran her a hand, once wrapped around his neck, through his hair. They stared into each others eyes as the words just seemed to roll off Courtney's tongue.**_

"_**I love you too," She said a bit breathless from the intense kiss they had just shared.**_

_**Jason lifted Courtney up as he carried her past the bookcase and set her on the bed. As he stared at her, he realized that he would never feel this way again. That she was his life and he would never love anyone as much as he did her.**_

_**That night they showed each other how much they loved each other. It may have been their second time, but it was just as special as that first night they shared together.**_

-.-

The woman sat up in bed and ran her hand through her brownish red tinted hair. Her breathing was deep and uneven. Her chest was heaving as she brought the hand not in her hair to her chest in hopes of slowing her heart rate. It was like her world was closing around her and she couldn't stop it.

She kicked the covers off of her self as she set her feet on the cold floor and stood up. The oversized mans t-shirts fell to her mid thighs as she slipped her feet into her fluffy slippers. She walked to the open door and walked down the hallway to the door right before the stairs. She froze in the doorway as she looked in.

The white crib was set in the corner, by the window with an elegant looking white rocking chair next to a lamp. The lamp had a teddy bear hugging the metal pole supporting it, and a white lampshade with blue frills coming off of it. The small corner table it rested on had the words 'It's a Boy' running along the edge of the table in little toy blocks. There was a toy chest in the opposite the crib, and the changing table a little ways down. A large oval rug lay in the middle of the room.

She looked in the room as the tears began to fall. She had lost so much already; she didn't want to lose anymore. This baby was hers, and nothing would take him away from her. She couldn't get that first child out of her head, the one that they had taken from her. She missed her baby, but she was going to fix it, she was going to make things right for this baby.

"It's going to be okay," A deep voice said as a man wrapped his arms around the woman.

-

The Hispanic man sat back and looked at the naked woman in the bed. Sure he had feelings for her, at one point in time, but he knew it was nothing now. He had changed. The years had made him hard and turned him into his father. He wasn't always like this, and he had a chance to be saved, but things don't always work out how you want them to.

He took a sip of the cool dark liquid as he reveled in her beauty. She was an amazing woman. She was beautiful, had a spirit to her that he had wanted to tame, he had grown sick of her long ago, around the time he first tamed her spirit. He had kept her around because no one else could hold his interest long enough for him to be satisfied with the job they had done. He had had many flings over the years, but he needed her and the control he seemed to have over the woman.

He downed the rest of the liquid before standing up and walking to the door. He saw her shifting in the bed as he opened the door and let the cool nights air into the hot musty room that smelled of sex. He grabbed his gun and keys as he stepped out into the cool night.

"Night, Night, Brookie," The man spoke in a cold cynical voice as he walked off into the night.


	4. Lost in Life

Chapter 3

_**She sat in back. She was behind them all. She didn't want to impose. After all it wasn't about her. It was about him, and his wife. It wasn't like he loved the brunette. He didn't and she knew that. She knew that he loved her. He had told her over and over again in bed last night, and she had said it right back. She had said that she loved him, and she did. She was just afraid of what her brother and wife would say if they ever found out about the two of them.**_

_**The voices in her head shut up as the sound of a gavel swept through the room. She looked up to see Jason flying at some man as the judged yelled for order. She knew this wasn't helping as she stood to go to him. She needed him calm. She needed him with her. She wanted them to be together, she needed them to be together. She wasn't sure she could live with out them. **_

_**The entire courtroom was in a riot as Sonny tried to help the guard hold Jason back. Everyone was standing around trying to get the situation under control. The brunette stood off to the side with a look of horror on her face as Carly screamed for Sonny to stop Jason.**_

_**Courtney placed her hands at her sides as she pushed herself off the chair. She didn't care what they thought, if Sonny yelled, she was going to go to him. She was standing on her own two feet as she slowly walked to the end of the row and into the aisle. Just as she was about to walk up the aisle a wave of nausea hit her. She went to grab for the bench support to her side as she started to lean towards them. She felt extremely dizzy. Her hand hit the support and bounced off as she went tumbling down. As her hand went past the bench she knocked her head on it and fell to the ground unconscious.**_

-.-

She searched all of the rooms before she looked out on the porch. The sun was rising and the person she was searching for was resting on the porch. Carly stepped out on the deck and walked up behind the person. They were both going through a rough time and they needed comfort. They had both lost children on this day.

She leaned down as she wrapped her arms around her best friend. She felt her friend lean back and let a breath escape her lips. They both needed something, the same thing actually. They needed their sons, their babies. They had lost so much that day. They lost their son's, their homes, but most importantly, they lost who they were. They lost the part of themselves that saw the good in the world, the part of them that could handle the life. They had left, driven away, because they couldn't chance loosing anymore.

"You okay," Carly asked as she released her friend and went to sit next to her in the hammock.

"You'd think I would be. It has been years, but I just can't seem to forget it. I don't want to forget," Courtney said in a sad voice as she looked out at the rising sun.

"I know what you mean. I keep thinking I'll wake up and he'll be there, smiling at me with his front teeth missing," Carly said in a whisper as she leaned her head on her friends shoulder and tucked her feet up next to her, "When will it get easier?"

"I'm not sure it ever will," Courtney replied as she rested her head on top of Carly's and the two sat in silence as the sun rose and the memories returned.

-

He stood watching the sunrise as a pair or stringy limp arms wrapped around his stomach. He let out a sigh knowing it wasn't the same, it wasn't her. He also knew that it helped him forget. That when he was with her he didn't have to remember all the good times he had with her.

He felt the woman loosen her grip some as he turned around to face her. This wasn't that time any longer. He couldn't dwell on the past. She was gone. He knew that. He had moved on long ago, but something about this day got to him. He had lost so much, yet gained so much. A child he thought was dead was returned to him, while three people he knew his world needed perished. It wasn't a fair trade, but he knew that she wouldn't want it any other way.

He looked down at the brunette. He had settled for what he could after she left. He had married a woman who could handle what he did, who understood his need to do what he did, but no one knew what to think when he got out, when they went legit. They had said it was for their own good, but everyone knew that it was for them, for the fallen women that would always hold a special place in their hearts. Of coarse the brunette had never been happy that he got out. She always said it's what he needed to do, he wasn't sure of that.

"You okay," She asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Why wouldn't I be," Jason asked.

"Don't give me that," She whined.

"What do you want me to say? That's it's okay, that I'll never think of what this day means," Jason said in a bit of anger. "Sam I can't do that. Carly's gone, Morgan is gone, Cou…"

"Courtney is gone. I know we go through this every year. They're gone, and you don't even have your work to take your mind off of it. You needed that job. I know you did. So just go back to it."

"Sam I won't do it. It put too may people at risk, and I can't do it. Not any more," Jason spoke as he loosened the grip she had on him and walked off the porch.

Sam watched as he walked away. She was sick of it. Once a year he would mope around the house and get all sad, not wanting to do a thing. Sam was sick of it. It had been years since those bitches had died, years since they had started a family together. They had three Kids. Why couldn't he focus on them? Why did he have to be so consumed with the dead?

-

Sonny shifted in bed as his current wife rolled in his arms. Times were different. She had left him; she had disappeared leaving him alone. He would have waited, he was positive had they still been married that he would have waited, but they weren't. So he had moved on.

He kept his hopes up that she was alive, that his youngest son was alive, but it wasn't possible. He saw the explosion, the building going up in smokes. He lost his son, his sister, and the love of his life all in one foul swoop. He didn't think he would ever feel whole again, but somehow he had gotten over it. He had moved on, and know had a wife, a family. Kristina loved him, and Michael would never leave his side. He had wanted to run out and tell Carly the second he found his son, and he was so close to it, when the building exploded.

He had been devastated, but she had been there the entire time. He loved her. She saved him from it all, but mostly from himself. He would have drowned in his sorrow had she not swooped down and saved him. Reese had saved him.

"What are you thinking about," Reese said in a sleepy voice as she looked up at the man.

"Nothing," Sonny said as he looked at his wife, "Go back to sleep."

"No, I need to get up. Sam and I have an interview at the club. That and a liquor shipment coming in."

"You hiring there again. Can't you two ever keep a bartender, or whatever it is you two are looking for this time," Sonny asked with a laugh.

"Not funny," Reese commented as she lightly hit the man, "We need another cocktail waitress. I think Sam keeps scaring them off."

Sonny just laughed as he watched her walk into the bathroom. Yes, without Reese his life would be nothing.


	5. Waves of Pain

_**Author's Note: **I'm just on a role, getting all sorts of updates out, cept for the ones that two certain girls want. I hope you enjoy this and perhaps I'll get better at updating…I hope_

-.-

Chapter 4

_**They all heard the thud. Something had hit the floor, though none of them were sure what. They were all too worried about what Jason would do to the man he was in the process of attacking. No one was exactly sure of what set him off, AJ had whispered something as he walked off the stand and Jason had just jumped at him, swinging and hitting him square in the jaw, it had taken a guard and Sonny to pull Jason off of AJ, and a guard to restrain AJ from attacking Jason, which would only lead to more bruises for AJ. It was not something that happened often, Jason Morgan beating a man in front of so many witnesses. It was like something had set him off.**_

_**The situation was under control quickly as the mob that had surrounded the fight settle back into their seats. Carly was the first to begin walking back to her seat when her eyes caught a foot, just one sticking out of an isle just a few rows from the door. She quickly pushed the hand of her husband off of her shoulder as she ran to the back of the room. She recognized the shoe even before she got there, but seeing the face, the blood on the floor Carly couldn't contain herself. **_

"_**Courtney," Carly practically screamed as she stepped over her friend's body and kneeled next to her head. Carly gently swept her hair to the side. She looked pale, and sick, not to mention the gash on the side of her head. Carly worriedly looked up at her husband who was currently on the phone, she hoped with an ambulance. Her eyes scanned the group that had formed around her friend. They were all looking at her like some new attraction. Some were looks of concern, others looks that said they knew something like this would happen to her if she kept associating with Sonny Corinthos, and others. Jason in particular looked concerned, like his world had just ended. **_

"_**An Ambulance is on the way," Sonny said as he shut his phone and looked at his sister and wife. He wasn't sure what was going on, but hearing his wife scream, and seeing his sister looking so sick just shook him to the core. He wasn't sure what he would do if he lost his sister already. He had just found her.**_

_**Jason heard the scream of his friend. Carly screamed her name. She had screamed Courtney's name. The look of terror in Carly's eyes as she swoop down between the isles and was concealed by the bench. He felt his airway tightening up as he ran down the isle pushing people out of the way. He had to make sure everything was okay, that she was okay. He saw Carly holding a sweater to her head, he saw the sick pale look of her and his heart broke, he couldn't protect her from whatever ailed her. Before he had the chance to swoop in and save her the medics arrived and quickly set to work. Within a matter of minutes they had her ready for transport to General Hospital. **_

-.-

The blonde stood looking out over the water. The waves crashed against the wood supports of the docks as the person cringed. The water wasn't soothing. It hadn't been soothing in years. It didn't have the same effect on a grown person as it did on a baby, a toddler, no older than three. How could something that seemed to take so much sooth anything, or anyone? The rain, the waves, the salty water of the ocean, and even the sweet cool water of a lake, or stream, tended to tense a person up. The reasons why any man, or woman would love the water seemed so oblivious.

The water seemed to take whatever it wanted. It consumed so much of the earth, leaving little or nothing to the people who lived on it. Understanding that water was needed to survive, but hating everything it claimed was something that couldn't be escaped for the blonde. Water seemed to take everything, it sunk even the strongest ships, took some of the best people and claimed even the strongest souls in it's crashing. It devoured all, yet it released so much. It could take your pain away in a second, the cold claiming waves of the sea could release you from the deepest deceptions, and free you from a life on earth. Water, just its very existence rocked this blonde to the core.

****The red head watched from top of the stairs. He wasn't an idiot. He knew what the blonde saw in the water. It was the end, it was the beginning, and it was everything, yet it was nothing. It was the reason the blonde couldn't seem to live, hell, it was the reason the world seemed to stop for the both of them. It had claimed them, all of them, and it was a hard thing to let go of. To forget something like that, yet go on hating them because they weren't there was something they both knew. Something they dealt with daily.

"It's so strange. We spent our entire childhood avoiding it, yet it surrounds us completely. It defines us, and it makes us who we are," The blonde man spoke eyes glued to the water.

"Hmm, I always thought it destroyed who we were," The red head spoke as he walked down the stairs.

"It's hard to pick those details out these days," The blonde spoke turning to look at his cousin.

"It's hard to separate fact from fantasy sometimes," Michael countered, " So what's going on?"

"Someone keeps blowing things up, no clue who. Sources are saying it's Sanchez and Alcazar, but I don't think so. It's to clean for them."

"That's all? TJ, it's been nearly three months and we still have no clue who is doing this, or what they want. I'm worried that we won't be able to keep them all safe," Michael agitatedly replied.

"I know this, all of it," TJ said as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Well we need to do something."

"What exactly. We can't be too obvious, they got out, got clean. We only got in so they wouldn't know all the trouble that was starting. What can we do that won't alarm them Michael?"

"TJ," A bubbly brunette screamed ass she ran down the stairs onto the dock and up to the blonde man, "Oh my gosh. I had so much fun shopping. You were right, Neil was lots of fun."

"What did you do," TJ question as he eyed the brunette suspiciously.

"Nothing much, just spent some money," She spoke as they turned to see a bag falling down the stairs.

"Ms. Morgan. Please don't run to far ahead," the man spoke in his light English accent that only caused the brunette to giggle.

"Neil," Michael spoke as he looked at the tall clean-cut young man. He'd yell at himself later for hiring such a young man who looked like he came straight out of a boy's school, "Take Hailey's purchases to the penthouse. This little brat will be spending the afternoon with us. How does lunch sound?"

"Sounds great. I'm famished. Let's go to Kelly's. I saw Chance and Tina when we passed there a few minutes ago. Bye Neil," Hailey said as she chattered away.

The two young me followed to young woman up the stairs as she chattered away, nonsense for the most part. Each man had their heads full of the dangers of the town, the lurking shadow, but that could wait. They were going to have lunch with the family baby. They would forget it all as they ate a nice quite lunch, just the Corinthos and Morgan kids.


	6. Crying Life Away

Chapter 5

**_She sat silently in the bed, her hands resting lightly in her lap as she waited for the doctor to enter. She knew what was wrong with her. She had known for a few days now, she just couldn't admit it. If she did admit it she would have to tell them, and she wasn't ready for that, she couldn't. She was still afraid, scared that her world would fall apart, that they would leave her in the cold as so many before her had. _**

_**Tears began to fall from her eyes, as there was a soft knock on the door, looking up, as the door was cracked open she was greeted by the face of her doctor. He had a slight smile on his face as he walked next to her. **_

"_**So I have a few questions for you before I tell you what you found." His voice was soothing and soft as he looked down at her.**_

"_**Sure," Her voice was a whisper as she looked to the white sheets.**_

"_**When was the last time you had something to eat?"**_

"_**Um, well the smell of food has been making me sick lately. I had some crackers a few hours ago."**_

"_**And before that?"**_

"_**A piece of bread last night. Though it didn't taste very good."**_

"_**Well you really need to start eating better, especially when your…"**_

"_**So I really am." Her eyes went up to meet the doctors. **_

"_**Yes, and it's important that you eat right. I've talked to Dr Meadows and she says you should set up an appointment, until then she gave me some pre natal vitamins. You need to take them, especially if your not eating right. You still need to eat, and rest, but the vitamins will be needed as well."**_

"_**How soon do I need to see Dr Meadows?"**_

"_**As soon as possible. I'm sending her in today since you fainted, but you still need to see her for regular check ups, it's very important."**_

"_**Okay, thank you doctor."**_

"_**Keep a bandage on your head, change it twice a day for a few days then you can just remove it. Let the air get to it. I'm going to go talk top your family."**_

"_**You won't tell them will you?"**_

"_**No, I'll leave that to you." He walked out of the room and turned to shut the door, "Congratulations Mrs. Quartermaine. I'm sure your husband will be thrilled."**_

_**She frowned as it hit her. She had forgotten to check with Sonny on how her divorce was coming. She wasn't sure they were ready for this, that any of them were ready for it. She couldn't help but think she had just ruined all of their lives. **_

_**-.-**_

Her dark brown hair was strewn across the pillow. With the sun gleaming in her bedroom window it looked lighter, like a golden brown. She flipped over roughly on her bed to look at her alarm clock. One eleven. She had slept till one in the afternoon. It's not like it really mattered much anymore, she had nothing to do, no were to go. She could have started college up again this semester, but depression ate at her. Ever since the explosion, ever since her mother, her aunt, she couldn't bring herself to do much. She could hardly bring herself to say it.

From her position on her stomach she could clearly see her open bedside drawer. She had been debating whether or not to look at it all night, all week, hell, the past three weeks. She wanted to see it. She really did, she needed to, but she couldn't. If she looked it would be real again and she would cry again, and she was so sick of crying, so sick of being sad, mad, angry, with them all. She was mad, angry, upset, disappointed. She was disappointed in them all, her cousins, and her brothers, her Mother, her Aunt, in herself. What was sad, it was unavoidable. The events. They would have happened no matter what.

She sat up and looked in the drawer it still sat there, sealed and unopened. Why couldn't she open it? It had been weeks since she left, months since their deaths, and she couldn't open it. She new what it said, she had known for weeks. It was the reason. It would tell her why the one person holding her together had left. Why she couldn't stay, and what had happened to make her leave in the middle of the night.

She felt them coming again, the tears they were going to fall. She knew they would, they always did when she looked in the drawer. She couldn't help it. It was just a tear-stained piece of paper. When the letter was opened it would hold her curly girly hand writing, it would have her tears on it most likely, and it would be covered in her scent, the soft scent of strawberries. She had a thing for spraying her stationary with her the Strawberries and Champagne body spray they had bought shopping.

Her hand slipped into the dresser as she reached for the letter. Grabbing it with one hand she pushed herself up with the other. He folded her legs under one another as she sat Indian style on the large king sized bed. She held the letter in her hand as she felt her eyes cloud over. She would do it this morning. She had to. If she waited another day it could kill her, but if she opened it she could loose just as much.

The tears slipped from her eyes as she slipped the letter back into the door and ran from the room. She ran out the door and down the stairs, towards her brothers. She couldn't do it. Not now. She needed more time. She had to have more time. More time to understand, to grasp, that what she read could make, or break her in the state she was.

She entered the study. She saw him there, all three of them, and as much as she hated them all, they were all she had left. She needed them now, she had needed them for a while and they didn't leave. They couldn't leave her like Melissa did, like her mother, or her aunt. They would stay with her forever, because if they didn't she wouldn't make it.

The three men stopped what they were saying when they door smashed open and the crying girl ran in. She went right to her oldest brother, to Brad. They were never the closest, but he was always there to protect her. He was the strong one, the one who her mother said reminded her most about Sonny. Another man she couldn't help but hate. She stayed wrapped in his arms as she cried. She cried for all of them, for their loss, for the pain, for the hurt. She had to cry, none of them did. They learned to fast that tears meant pain, meant weakness, and in their world they couldn't show weakness.

Looking down at the now sleeping girl in his arms he sighs. She only got sadder, he didn't like it, none of them did. They were never sure what to do about it either. She just cried and slept. Sometimes you could get some soup in, but not as often as one would like. Pushing the chair out he stood with her in his arms walking up the stairs to her room quietly, silently. Setting her in her bed, covering her as he sat to watch her for a second before turning to the drawer and opening it. The letter still sits there, Melissa's curly writing spelling his sisters name, spelling Madeline. It's unopened as he lifts it to his nose smelling the faded scent that his cousin wore. He wished she had stopped running, that she had broken the pattern that her grandmother, his great Aunt had started. He wished they could be happy, that they could find piece. They couldn't.

Walking back into the office he looked at them, his brother and cousin. Their eyes held worry and he wasn't sure what to say. It was always Melissa that held them together. The glue that made them all stick as one these last few months, yet she was the first to run and they weren't sure why. They weren't sure of anything anymore. Only that they needed to find her before she did something they would all regret.

"She's okay," Brad spoke trying to sound reassuring to them all, he didn't.

"Which one," The curly blonde haired man asked, his tone unbelieving.

"I wish it were Maddie. She hasn't been doing well Brad." The dark haired man responded.

"I know that, but at least she's here, and we can watch her. Melissa, we don't even know where she is." Brad responded.

"She's strong."

"I have no doubt that she is Logan. I know she's strong. She's her mothers daughter. What worries me is what she knows, what she'll do."

"She didn't hear us."

"Morgan you can't know that. None of us can," Logan's raised voice held anger, but spoke the truth. They couldn't be certain that she hadn't heard one of their many conversations.

"We just have to hope we find her before she finds trouble."


End file.
